Where to Spread Bet on Shares

Each of the following offers a wide range of shares spread betting markets.

Shares Spread Betting?

Comparison Notes. This table is not meant to be inclusive, stocks and shares spread betting may be available through other brokers.

Shares Spread Betting Account

The companies in the table above offer clients a wide selection of shares, stock market indices, forex and commodities markets.

With regards to trading through reputable companies, each of the above is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Note that financial spread betting accounts are subject to status as well as terms and conditions.

To read a review on any of the companies listed in the table above simply click on the relevant company logo.

Stock Market News and Tips

Updated daily, we offer a range of articles covering the key global stock markets from different views and angles.

Shares Spread Betting Platforms and Software

Each of the companies listed below provide clients with live prices.

Certain spread betting companies offer clients software/trading platforms that users have to download. Having said that, most firms, including the ones listed below, offer more practical web-based platforms.

A web-based spread betting platform lets you access your spread betting account from the office, from your PC at home etc. without the need to download and install any trading software.

Spread Betting Firm

Live Prices?

Shares Spread Betting - Free Demo Accounts

If you are looking to test a new stock market strategy or theory, then it might be worth looking into a Demo Account / Practice Account.

These are free test accounts where you can practice your financial spread betting on numerous markets, including UK shares, US shares and German shares as well as stock market indices like the FTSE 100 and Dow Jones.

Guides to Spread Betting on Shares by Country / Stock Market Index

On CleanFinancial we offer reviews on 100s of different equities covering key stocks and shares from the UK, US, Germany, France and Ireland. For each individual equity we answer the following questions:

Where Can I Spread Bet on the Share?

Where Can I Trade for Free on the Share?

How to Spread Bet on the Share?

Where Can I Find Free Live Prices for the Share?

Where Can I Find Free Charts for the Share?

To find the stock you’re interested in trading, simply click on the Country / Stock Market Index below. You will then find a list of shares that we have reviewed.

Stock Market Index Spread Betting

Whilst many investors spread bet on shares, the most popular spread betting markets are the stock market indices. Rather than taking a position on an individual share you can speculate on a whole index such as the FTSE 100, Dow Jones or even Indian Nifty 50. For more details see:

Popular and Profitable Sectors

Below, an interesting graphic from Spreadex showing which shares/sectors investors traded in 2012. It also shows which sectors were the most-profitable, and the most-costly, for their clients.

Above, the 'initial risk' relates to the potential cost of buying physical shares in a company. E.g. a £1 buy of a 200p share is the equivalent of buying £2,000 of shares in the same company. Therefore an 18% return on that initial risk would mean a return of £360.

Advantages of Shares Spread Betting

Spread bets are not subject to tax* - you are not actually buying and selling any stocks or shares. You are simply speculating on the future value of a share. Therefore there is no Stamp Duty, no Income Tax and no Capital Gains tax.

Two Way Trading - being able to 'short' a market offers you a range of opportunities. With shares spread betting you do not have to speculate on shares to go up. If your research leads to you think that the Google share price will go up, you can, of course, bet on it to go up. However, if you think that the Apple stock will go down then you can bet on it to go down.

No Commissions or Brokers' Fees - because you are trading directly with a spread betting company, and not through a brokerage, there are no broker's fees or commission charges.

Spread betting also offers you access to a wide range of shares. With a company like Financial Spreads you can trade UK, US and German shares. However you can also spread bet on equities listed in France, Holland, India, South Africa, Sweden etc

Speed - you are speculating on the future price of a market and, as a result, trades are generally accepted automatically or at least in the order of seconds. You don’t need to wait for a broker to fill your order.

Control - another benefit is that you can close a losing trade in order to limit your losses and likewise you can close a winning trade in order to bank a profit. Note that you can also ‘part close’ a trade, i.e. closing part of your spread bet but keeping part of it open. Again this is an important risk management feature that can help restrict losses and lock in profits.

Convenience and 24 Hour Trading - when the closing bell sounds at the end of the normal trading day, not all spread betting markets close. So whilst the London, New York and Frankfurt stock markets close, many important spread betting markets remain open. Some remain open throughout the night. Be aware though that most shares spread markets are not open 24 hours a day.

Risk Management and Trading Orders - investing does have its drawbacks. Nevertheless, there are a few steps you can take to minimise your downside. You can add:

Stop Loss Orders to your trades. This means that when a market moves against your position, the Stop Loss will close your trade and prevent you from losing any more money. Some spread betting companies will help by adding a stop loss to every trade. Stop Loss orders do not limit your upside, however it should be noted that not all Stop Losses are guaranteed.

Guaranteed Stops to your spread bets. These work like Stop Loss orders but are guaranteed to close your trade at the level you specified. They normally come with a slightly wider spread.

Limit Orders to your trades. Limit orders help you to lock in a profit. A Limit order would close and settle your spread bet if and when the market you are trading moves, in the way that you successfully forecast, and through a certain price level. In most instances you'll be able to state the level at which your Limit order is set.

These orders will often help you adhere to your trading strategy simply by helping you close your trades at price levels you originally stipulated.

They also help you manage you positions when you’re away from your PC.

Free Data and Information – a good number of providers eg Financial Spreads and Capital Spreads now offer a wealth of free data to help their clients. You can get Heat Maps that highlight the shares that are going up / down, plus there are economic calendars showing what data is scheduled to be released during the week. Sometimes there is also technical analysis to accompany the candlestick charts that are available.

Spread Betting Risks

Whilst spread betting offers a wide range of benefits, it is also important to remember the potential drawbacks.

With spread betting you can lose more than you originally staked or invested. Spread bets carry a high level of risk to your capital. Ensure that spread betting matches your investment objectives. Make sure you familiarise yourself with the risks involved. Where necessary, seek independent advice.

Shares Spread Betting and Risk Management

As mentioned above, spread betting does carry a high level of risk to your capital. However there are a number of things you can do to help limit your risks including making use of:

Smaller stakes

Guaranteed Stop orders

With a lot of spread betting companies you can trade with stakes as small as £1 per point or $1 per point.

So to gain a little exposure you could just trade a stock market index like the FTSE 100, Dow Jones or German DAX for £1 per point.

Likewise you could spread bet on UK shares for £1 per penny. For example, if you speculate on Barclays shares to go up, with a £1 per penny stake and if the share price rises by 60p then you would make 60p x £1 per penny = £60.

Of course the Barclays shares could fall. If they dropped by 77p, then with your £1 stake you would lose 77p x £1 per penny = £77.

Note that you can trade the markets in Dollars, Sterling or Euros. If you want to trade in Euros then 60p x €1 per penny = €60.

To help reduce your losses you could add a Guaranteed Stop order at let's say, 50p.

So if you were financial spread betting on Barclays it would mean that your position would be closed if the share price moved against you by 50p. Therefore, instead of losing £77, you'd only lose 50p x £1 per penny = £50.

However, assuming you predicted the direction of the shares correctly then your profit would still be £110 if they moved 110p or £65 if the Barclays share price moved 65p.

For a more fully worked trading example please see below.

A key element of spread betting is keeping your greed under control. Making use of Guaranteed Stops and trading with smaller stakes can help to reduce your risk.

An additional option is to apply a Trailing Stop to help lock in profitable market moves, see Guide to Trailing Stops.

Futures Markets

‘Futures’ markets will often have a wider spread than the equivalent ‘daily’ market. However, there are usually no ‘daily rolling’ costs associated with a futures market.

Still, if you are speculating on a quarterly futures market, i.e. a market that it settled at the quarter-end, and you want to keep it open beyond the expiry date then you would normally incur a small cost at the quarter-end.

Please note that, if you do plan to do this, you will need to tell your spread betting provider before the contract expires.

How to Spread Bet on Shares: Rolling Daily Example (HSBC)

If you want to speculate on shares like HSBC then one option is to spread bet on the HSBC share price.

Looking at a site like capital spreads, we can see they have put the HSBC Rolling Daily market at 611.9p - 612.8p. Therefore, an investor could spread bet on the HSBC shares:

Going higher than 612.8p, or Going lower than 611.9p

When spread betting on shares listed on the London Stock Exchange you trade in £x per penny. As a result, if your stake was £4 per penny and the HSBC shares move 34p then there would be a difference to your profits (or losses) of £136. £4 per penny x 34p = £136.

If we take the spread of 611.9p - 612.8p and make the assumptions that:

You have analysed the equities market, and

You think that the HSBC share price is likely to go higher than 612.8p

Then you may choose to buy a spread bet at 612.8p and invest, for the sake of argument, £4 per penny.

With this trade you make a profit of £4 for every penny that the HSBC shares push above 612.8p. On the other hand, such a trade also means you will make a loss of £4 for every penny that the HSBC market decreases lower than 612.8p.

Looking at this from another angle, if you ‘Buy’ a spread bet then your profit/loss is calculated by taking the difference between the closing price of the market and the price you bought the spread at. You then multiply that difference in price by the stake.

With this in mind, if after a few days the share price started to rise you might decide to close your position in order to secure your profit.
If that happened then the spread, set by the spread trading firm, might move up to 641.9p - 642.8p. You would settle/close your trade by selling at 641.9p. Therefore, with the same £4 stake this trade would make you a profit of:

How to Spread Bet on Shares: Futures Example (Barclays)

It is now July and a spread betting firm's quote for the Barclays September futures market might be 710 to 715.

If you believe that the share price will rise over the next months, you would "buy" at 715.

You would then need to decide your stake. For this example, let's say you choose a stake of £2 per penny movement.

This means that you will receive £2 for every penny the share price rises. If the futures market quote for Barclays rises for example to 750 - 755 you may decide you want to close your position to realise the profit.

An equal sized Sell bet always closes a buy bet, and vice versa. Alternatively, you can leave the bet to expire in September, when your bet will be automatically closed.

Barclays Futures Scenario 1 - Closing the Bet

Let's say the market does rise and there's a quote of 745 - 750.

You can leave your bet running or close it by selling at 745 for £2 per penny. This may be the time to lock in your profit by closing the bet.

Your profit is calculated by calculating the difference between the closing level (745) and the opening price (715) and multiplying by the stake. Note that because you have closed the bet it doesn't matter where the market settles in September.

Barclays Futures Scenario 2 - Letting the Bet Run

Let's say the market does rise and there's a quote of let's say 745 - 750.

However you think you're on to a good thing and you let it run. However the market decides 745 - 750 is too high and sellers push the price back to 725 at the end of September. If that happens, your bet is automatically closed at 725.

Your profit is calculated by calculating the difference between the closing level (725) and the opening price (715) and multiplying by the stake.

Barclays Futures Scenario 3 - Fall in Share Price

Of course the Barclays price could have gone down after you bought at 715.

If it closes below 715 you will make a loss. Let's say there's some bad news for Barclays and the profits aren't as high as expected. The market reacts negatively. As a result the shares fall and they close in September at 695

Your profit is calculated by calculating the difference between the closing level (695) and the opening price (715) and multiplying by the stake.

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